Obama challenges Kenya on gay rights, corruption
NAIROBI — US President Barack Obama wrapped up a two-day landmark visit to Kenya yesterday, marked by aid on business and security but a firm message on gay rights and corruption.
In a joint press conference after bilateral talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Obama compared homophobia — on the rise across Africa — to racial discrimination he had encountered in the United States.
After pledging stronger business ties and aid for entrepreneurs, he also called for firm action on endemic corruption, calling it “the single biggest impediment to Kenya growing even faster.”
Obama arrived in Kenya late on Friday, his first visit as president to his father’s birthplace and the first to the East African nation by a serving US leader.
He leaves later Monday for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where he will also be the first US leader to address the African Union.
On gay rights, he said his position has been “consistent all across Africa on this: when you start treating people differently, because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen.”
”As an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of what happens when people are treated differently under the law. I am unequivocal on this,” Obama told a joint news conference, openly disagreeing with Kenyatta.
Homophobia is on the rise in Africa, and espousing evangelical Christian values is a major vote winner in many countries. Kenyatta replied by repeating the view that gay rights were unacceptable to Kenyans and therefore “a non-issue.”
A presidential visit to Kenya had been delayed while Kenyatta faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in post-election violence seven years ago. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has since dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence and accusing Kenya of bribing or intimidating witnesses.
Kenyan Vice President William Ruto, whose ICC trial continues, is also vocally homophobic and recently described gays as “dirty.”